Study reconstructs Neandertal ribcage, offers new clues to ancient human anatomy

EurekAlert! ^ | October 30, 2018 | Kim Eckart, University of Washington

[SunkenCiv]

An international team of scientists has completed the first 3D virtual reconstruction of the ribcage of the most complete Neandertal skeleton unearthed to date, potentially shedding new light on how this ancient human moved and breathed.

The team, which included researchers from universities in Spain, Israel, and the United States, including the University of Washington, focused on the thorax -- the area of the body containing the rib cage and upper spine, which forms a cavity to house the heart and lungs. Using CT scans of fossils from an approximately 60,000-year-old male skeleton known as Kebara 2, researchers were able to create a 3D model of the chest -- one that is different from the longstanding image of the barrel-chested, hunched-over "caveman." The conclusions point to what may have been an upright individual with greater lung capacity and a straighter spine than today's modern human...

This team worked with a skeleton labeled Kebara 2, also known as "Moshe," which was found in Kebara Cave in Northern Israel's Carmel mountain range in 1983... one of the most complete Neandertal skeleton ever found. Two different forms of dating of the surrounding soil, thermoluminescence and electron spin resonance, put the age at somewhere between 59,000 and 64,000 years.

Discoveries and studies of other Neandertal remains in the 19th and early 20th centuries gave rise to theories and images of a stereotypical, hunched-over caveman. Over time, further research clarified scientific understanding of many Neandertal traits, but some debate has lingered over the structure of the thorax, the capacity of the lungs and what conditions Neandertals might have been able to adapt to, or not...

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks!

Neanderthal children shivered and suffered in ancient Europe
By Ann Gibbons
Oct. 31, 2018 , 2:05 PM
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/10/neanderthal-children-shivered-and-suffered-ancient-europe

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There's a fossil record of ape to homo sapiens, not totally complete, but the broad brush strokes of the changes show a certain kinship. (As does any trip to the zoo!)

Perhaps there is a fossil record of where homo neanderthalensis got the straight back and balanced head from a quadruped line, or perhaps there is a very early bipedal mammal?

I believe man has been here for a very long time with multiple peaks and valleys.

Me too.

How much of our current civilization would be left after we go to an everything is recyclable mind set and have a couple ice ages?

Assuming from my position way, way, way out on a limb that the neanderthals were built in God's image, the wrong side lost in the homo sapiens vs homo neanderthalensis conflict, with only a few tatters of neanderthalensis DNA remaining.

Definitely a fall from grace!

It would take an Act of God or biotechnology, to reassemble a full neanderthalensis genome and resurrect the species...

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Please do the same for me. We’re all ignorant. This is actually a good thing, ignorance is easy to cure, but ya can’t fix stupid!

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Thanks! I expect we will see that spine, perhaps even during this, our current lifetimes.

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The crouching vertical stance gave enough advantage (reaching higher fruit? seeing predators over tall grass? Or whatever) that the ones slightly better adapted got straighter legs and curvier lower backs.

Let me rephrase that:

The crouching vertical stance gave enough advantage (reaching higher fruit? seeing predators over tall grass? Intimidating competition for reproduction? Or whatever) that the ones slightly better adapted got with straighter legs and curvier lower backs had a better chance of passing on their genes.

The original text implied they were trying to change. Lysenkoism doesn't work except in a communist fantasy world..